Holiday Haus Offers a Different Sort of Shopping Experience
Located inside a Point Breeze home, the pop-up market is filled with handcrafted items made in Pittsburgh — and from across the globe.
PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA RIBAR
You’ve heard of “shopping small” at locally owned businesses for the holidays, but a new, global-inspired pop-up market takes finding a gift for a loved one to a state-of-the-art experience.
Created by Sara Droz, the founder of lifestyle brand Dip a Toe, Holiday Haus is set in a Mid-Century Modern home in Point Breeze. Open through Dec. 14, the immersive retail setting features a curated selection of handcrafted pieces, including luxury knitwear, home goods, accessories and artisanal finds.
“The first thing that [shoppers] will see is a coffee cart where you can buy coffee from Sprig Coffee Company in the yard. We’re going to have a bunch of fire pits and some cozy seating,” says Droz. “All the furniture will be for sale and the rugs will be for sale. There are some really beautiful handbags that I brought back from Rome and from Paris, and then a lot of really just slow-fashion knitwear from Denmark and the Faroe Islands.”
PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA RIBAR
As the owner of a travel-inspired brand, Droz has, for years, sold collections from her travels alongside work from Pittsburgh artisans and designers. For Holiday Haus, she saw an opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind seasonal shopping experience where guests can explore thoughtfully styled vignettes, discover limited-edition pieces and experience a space where design and storytelling meet.
Besides Sprig Coffee, Holiday Haus’s Pittsburgh-based vendors include a furniture collection selected by interior designer Lexi Ribar, home goods by HAN Studio, an art exhibition featuring the work of Ignacio “Natxo” Arteta (represented by Concept Art Gallery), a dried flower bar by Alex Halpern and pottery by Louisa Rudolph.
PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA RIBAR
“Holiday Haus is about bringing the spirit of travel home,” Droz says. “Every piece in the collection reflects a story from the places we’ve visited and the people we’ve met along the way. We wanted to create a space that feels transportive, where every texture, tone and object has been chosen with purpose.”
After moving back to Pittsburgh from New York City four years ago, Droz lived in the tri-level ranch at 7137 Osage Lane before turning it into an Airbnb rental. After attending experiential retail events in other cities, Droz thought her property was the right place to bring a similar market to Pittsburgh.
“Our retail scene is pretty straightforward and so, having done experiential retail in cities in countries around the world, this felt really natural to me,” she says.
Shopping hours for Holiday Haus are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 14 and from 3 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12.
